Vaccination appliance



Dec. 2, 1952 s. R. ROSENTHAL VACCINATION APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 19, 1948 IN V EN TOR. 1 2

Patented Dec. 2, 1952 VACCINATION APPLIANCE Sol Roy Rosenthal, Chic search Foundation,

ago, 111., assignor to Re- Chicago, 111., a nonprofit corporation of Illinois Application February 19, 1948, Serial No. 9,477

4 Claims.

This invention relates to vaccination appliance and a method of vaccination and its purpose is to provide a new method of vaccination involving the use of an improved device capable of producing a plurality of punctures quickly and simultaneously.

It has heretofore been the common practice to vaccinate with various antigens by inoculating with a syringe and an injecting needle intracutaneously, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly. For smallpox vaccination the virus is introduced percutaneously by placing a layer of the liquid on the skin and puncturing through the vaccine into the skin with a sewing type needle over a small area, usually about oneeighth of an inch 04,) in diameters Because of the concentration of the vaccine in a relatively small area, this prior method has led to either generalized Or localized reactions, sometimes of a severe character. It has been discovered, as a part of the present invention that by introducing a vaccine, for example, the vaccine of Calmette and Guerin, commonly known as BCG, into the skin percutaneously by multiple punctures distributed over a large area, 3 centimeters by 2 centimeters or more, all complications are avoided and the immunization produced is of a high order. However, the execution of a multiplicity of punctures with the use of a single needle consumes a great deal of time and there is a protracted irritation of the patient which is objectionable, particularly in the case of a child.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an instrument which may be conveniently employed to form an adequate number of punctures of the skin conveniently and simultaneously, thus saving a considerable amount of time and limiting the irritation of the patient to a brief interval. A further object of the invention is to provide a vaccination appliance in the form of a disk preferably shaped to conform substantially to the contour of the skin and having a plurality of spikes or needles projecting from one face thereof so that a large number of punctures of the skin may be made merely by pressing the disk against the skin. Another object of the invention is to provide a vaccination device comprising a thin metal plate having a plurality of spikes or needles punched therefrom on one side to form a simple and inexpensive appliance which may be discarded after use. Other objects relate to various features and details of construction which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment is illustrated. In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the vaccination appliance of the present invention applied to the arm of a patient in the process of vaccination;

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the vaccination appliance illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a bottom plan view of the vaccination appliances illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 shows a transverse vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

As illustrated in the drawings, the invention is embodied in a metal disk I 0 provided with two oppositely directed arms I 0a which may serve as handles during the use of the appliance. The disk In is preferably very thin, for example, about 0.2 millimeter in thickness, and its diameter may be about 4 cms. which is sufficient for vaccination purposes. The disk I0 is preferably curved slightly to conform to the curvature of the surface of the arm or leg of the patient so that it will lie in contact with the skin throughout its area when used.

This metal disk In is provided with a plurality of pointed spikes or needles Illb which extend downwardly or inwardly from one side of the disk or plate in the same direction and to the same extent. These spikes or needles are preferably from 1 to 2 mms. in length. They may be formed by punching out the metal of the disk to form apertures I00 and bending the punched metal inwardly or downwardly at right angles to the plane of the plate to form the spikes which are preferably ground off so that they are sharply pointed, as distinguished from having a knifeedged formation. In punching the apertures I00 and the corresponding spikes or needles I 0?), the punchings are preferably arranged in concentric circular rows as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the rows being approximately 4 mms. apart and the spikes of each row being spaced approximately 4 mms. from each other.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the vaccination appliance illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 is shown applied to the arm II of the patient in the process of vaccination. In carrying on this process,-

the surface of the skin is first cleaned with alcoappliance I0 is placed which the vaccine has pressed inwardly, thereby forming a plurality of punctures of the skin with a resulting injection of the vaccine at the site of each of the spikes or needles b. In this way, the punctures of the skin are all effected simultaneously and are of equal depth so that there is a uniformity of effect throughout the area of the vaccination, in addition to which there is a great saving of time as compared with former practice and the advantage that the irritation of the patient exists only for an instant. With the use of the embodiment of the invention shown, the fingers l2 of the operator are shown as pressing on the arms 10a of the device in the act of effecting the punctures but, if desired, the arms We may be eliminated and the punctures may be effected by pressing directly upon the outer face of the metal disk. A great advantage of the present invention is that the vaccination appliance is a disposable one which may be discarded after use so that there is no necessity for resterilization and no danger of infection in the treatment of successive patients,

Although the vaccine may be in the usual liquid form, the present invention may be used with great advantage when employing a vaccine having the dry or powder form which is described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No, 9,476, filed February 19, 1948.

The vaccination appliance of the present invention has been found effective and successful in the vaccination of human beings and guinea pigs employing the tuberculosis vaccine of Calmette and Guerin, commonly known as ECG, and also with the use of pertussis and smallpox vaccines.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other embodiments which come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vaccination appliance comprising a thin metal plate having needles punched therefrom and projecting in parallel relationship from one side thereof outwardly beyond the level of all adjacent surfaces on said plate.

2. A vaccination appliance comprising a thin metal plate having needles punched therefrom in concentric rows, with the needles substantially uniformly spaced in each row and projecting outwardly beyond the level of all adjacent surfaces on said plate.

3. A vaccination appliance comprising a thin metal disk slightly curved to conform to the curvature of the skin surface of a human arm or leg, said disk having a plurality of substantially uniformly spaced needles punched therefrom and projecting from the concave surface thereof.

4. A vaccination appliance comprisin a thin metal disk slightly curved to conform to the curvature of the skin surface of a human arm or leg, said disk having a plurality of substantially uniformly spaced needles, on the order of from one to two millimeters in length, punched therefrom and projecting from the concave surface thereof.

SOL ROY ROSENTHAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Price Aug. 24, 1948 

